Alok Bohara, Ph. D., is a Full Professor of Economics and founding director of the Nepal Study Center (NSC) at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He was born in Tansen, Palpa. A recipient of a gold medal and a Chancellor’s Padak (medal) for his Master’s degree in Statistics, Dr. Bohara taught at Tribhuvan University, Nepal for three years. He received his Master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado (CU-Boulder) in economics (1986) with an honor of distinction. After spending a year at CU as a visitor, he joined UNM in 1987. He is also a senior research fellow at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico.
RESEARCH & POLICY ENGAGEMENTS
An author of more than 100 peer-reviewed research papers in various US and international journals, Dr. Bohara has mentored and graduated more than two dozens doctoral scholars and numerous Masters and undergraduate students. His research areas focus at the cross-section of health, environment, & sustainable development, much of which lately focuses on the South Asian context, and the Himalayan region of Nepal in particular. Trough Nepali vernacular and other media, Dr. Bohara occasionally engages in national policy debates on a wide range of topics such as federalism, higher education, diaspora knowledge transfer, & good governance.
Vitae: https://econ.unm.edu/people/Faculty/profile/alok-bohara.html
KNOWLEDGE SHARING PLATFORMS
An avid proponent and initiator of the Diaspora knowledge sharing initiative in North America, Dr. Bohara and his scholar colleagues from different academic institutions began a conference series called Himalayan Policy Research Conference (HPRC–15th year running) at the U. of Wisconsin –Madison’s South Asia Conference venue.
Likewise, in order to tap a growing diaspora knowledge pool in North America, a venue was created in Nepal. Subsequently, a think tank concept called the Lumbini Center for Sustainability (LCS) was initiated. In collaboration with a group of interdisciplinary scholars from the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Nepal, and supported as a part of an NSF-funded travel grant in 2015, this platform has been established in the urban city of Siddharthanagar and is housed at a non-profit college PNC. This LCS platform has been conducting research, policy debates and visitors exchange programs in collaboration with the local, national, and international partners. Some of the topics of research and policy debates are: citizen science, environmental monitoring (air pollution, water pollution, river, and groundwater), urban bio-diversity, health outcomes, & women’s empowerment through leadership training (e.g., financial & computer literacy, health and hygiene, Women in STEM), just to name a few.
Knowledge Sharing Platforms:
NSC: http://nepalstudycenter.unm.edu/ResearchCapacity.htm
LCS: http://pnfoundation.org.np/lumbini-center-for-sustainability/